Walter – Willow’s #1 collaboration croc

Have you ever heard of a collaboration crocodile? It’s not an undiscovered species; it is Willow’s way of rewarding teamwork throughout the office. To receive a collaboration croc someone either sees you working with someone else or has worked with you directly. It is a really fun way to recognize those who have worked together to get a big a project out the door or to solve a problem. We know it’s small scale, but it’s a fun way to celebrate all of the work put in to being able to mark those tasks off the to-do list.

Having a tiny, fluorescent croc hanging out on your desk is always a great conversation starter. Once you receive one of the three crocs (Walter, Kevin and Franklin) you can proudly display it in your office until the next Willow Wednesday when it is then your turn to award your croc to someone else. Fun, right? we think so too.

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Missed any of our posts this week? Be sure to check out the Weekly Wrap Up below for our industry insight and brain power.

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Marketing 101: Sharing is Caring: A Few Great Reads

Photo Credit: Shutterstock.com

Work isn’t about fun and games, or is it? When you’re able to relax and collaborate amongst your team, pressure releases it’s tight grip. We understand that clients have goals and deadlines that they need to meet. That’s why we strive to turn around projects to help them stay on track. Sometimes that means we take a lunch break to Pinbust or step away from our project to help someone else with a brainstorm. These activities allow us to clear our heads so when we return to our work we are refreshed and work more efficiently.

How do you have fun at the office?

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Missed any of our posts this week? Be sure to check out the Weekly Wrap Up below for our industry insight and brain power.

Marketing 101: 5 Ways Non Profit Organizations Can Use Pinterest
Let’s Chat: Email Marketing and Outlook
In Marketing News: Twisters and Twitter
Creative Inspiration: Botox For Your Brand: What We Can Learn from Quaker Foods and Betty Crocker
Getting to Know the Willow Shrubs: Megan Arnold

“Willow Shrub” has a special meaning to every member of the Willow team. It’s an endearing phrase used for our “employees” and is thrown around the office and with clients quite regularly. Being a “shrub” is kind of a big deal.

Today’s company-wide Pin Buster Project was a great “shrub” bonding experience and involved creating a framed message board to sit on everyone’s desk. The board, created out of a simple frame and a printed insert, allows everyone to write messages to each other using dry erase markers. The frames allow our “shrubs” to share positive affirmations with each other on a daily basis. What better way to start your day than with a positive note from a coworker telling you why you are such a great “shrub!” This Pin Buster only took us 5 minutes and a few inexpensive frames to bust…but I know it will lead to lots of great messages being shared around the office.

The Project: Framed Dry Erase Message Board
The Participants: All Willow Shrubs
The Results:

With a day of play of course!

For an anniversary, most people would have just ordered a cake and sent a nice card, but at Willow Marketing we do things a little differently. The day began with the Willow staff receiving bright red hoodies emblazoned with the Willow 20^th anniversary logo.  Decked out in our bright apparel, the staff boarded a party bus for destinations unknown. The first stop on the tour was to pick-up our fearless leader, Brad Gillum, who was genuinely surprised by a rush of red-hooded shrubs.

As the bus tour unfolded, it became apparent that we were visiting landmark locations in Willow’s history. We stopped at all four previous office locations, Butler University and a scavenger hunt at Lowe’s.  In all, we hit 20 destinations. We mugged with clients, posed for pictures and had great fun hearing how each unique location played a part in who Willow is today.

The day’s events were capped off with a surprise party featuring home-brewed Willow branded beer. The mayor’s office presented Brad with a certificate in recognition of Willow’s 20 years of achievement. Anniversary wishes were expressed by numerous clients, partners and friends that have made Willow’s first 20 years great!

Kelsey Price will be a freshman this fall at Salem High School in Salem, Indiana. Last month she spent a week of her summer vacation shadowing the Willow Shrubs. Each day she spent time with a different shrub, giving her the opportunity to learn a little (or sometimes a lot) about the various departments here at Willow and the people that make them up. After four and a half days of torture we bestowed her with the highest Willow honor possible – a spot on the Willow blog. (We decided she had earned it.) So if you’re wondering what it would be like to be a fly on the Willow wall, read Kelsey’s recount of her experience. She noticed more than we expected….

Before job shadowing at Willow Marketing I knew absolutely nothing about marketing. To me Willow was always the business that Uncle Brad and Aunt Becky worked at, until I had to start thinking about my high school classes and my future. I had already set my eyes on going to college for a Fine Arts degree. Then my mom looked at my career survey I had done in school and said to me, “Kelsey, you’ve got more options out there. You just have to look. See this? You scored the highest in creativity, technology, writing and arts. Why don’t you call your Uncle and talk to him about interning or something at Willow Marketing?” After that short conversation in May, it didn’t take long until I was all set to intern in June.

My week started off on Tuesday with Kaloni in the Graphic Design department then a few minutes with Marizka in Web. Wednesday I worked with Katie in Public Relations, Thursday I worked with Andrew in Account Services and Friday I worked with Doug in Video.

On Tuesday Kaloni and I sat down at her desk and she guided me through her typical morning. I watched as she did her “quickie” projects and then started in on the projects that took more time to do. It was very interesting seeing all the different things that graphic designers can do. Then I got to proofread some menus for her, after that she set me up to view a client’s website and write down three things that I could tell from just looking at the site. After that I wrote a review for the website and made a collage of photos representing the things that I identified in my review.

When all work I had with Kaloni was done she took me over to Marizka. I really enjoyed my time with her because I’ve never seen a website being made. I was really impressed with the way she would code something and then refresh the page and there would be a border or words that I saw her input on the page. Sadly after some time with her, my day was then done and it was time to go home but I was really looking forward to the next day.

Stay tuned next week to hear about Kelsey’s adventures with some of our writing and account management team members.